[HP]Aluet

"I've lost one of my silver thimbles..."

"My harmonica is also missing. It must be him, I knew it... He won't let us go easily, anyone who provokes him will lose his things... He is a thief, a complete bastard..."

"Shh, keep your voice down." Amy, who was discussing with a few girls in a circle, saw me, and silently silent, and whispered something to the people next to her, barely moving her lips, and then they used a kind of He glanced at me like a monster and ran away quickly.

"What's wrong?" I was baffled.

Everyone who saw me avoided me like the plague, and people who were willing to talk to me usually stopped looking for me.I thought I was going to be teased by some of the people in the book, but I was vigilant all day, and no one approached me.

This question was not answered until two days later.

"I heard Wright and the others talking over there, you know? They're talking bad about you again, this time even more—" Billy muttered dissatisfied.

I suddenly realized: "No wonder no one wants to approach me or even say a word to me these days."

"You know what she said? She said she saw you and Riddle talking together, that you were monsters, and that you helped Riddle steal their things—"

"Tom Riddle? What's the matter with him?"

"Oh, I almost forgot about it—you don't remember again, do you? He was always bullying and taking other people's things. Dennis got hurt again yesterday and almost broke his leg—I heard it was because Dennis almost asked Mrs Cole pissed him off by revealing his villainy."

I listened in silence, thinking of the lonely and indifferent boy sitting alone by the sea.

"I guess he bullied you again that day. Don't go out alone in the future, so as not to get into trouble."

"He didn't," I said.

Billy stared at me strangely for a while: "Yes, of course not in your opinion, your ring hasn't been found yet, has it?"

I didn't refute him anything, just nodded.

……

I took a book and walked outside, the bright sun shone warmly on my face, and the warmth of the ground came in through the thin hard soles.

During this period of time, apart from meeting Billy occasionally, an extremely desolate and quiet area was formed around me—no one wanted to get close to me, which brought me a rare purity, and I even enjoyed it a little.

Tom Riddle was lying on the branch of a tree, looking at the book in his hand, and the dappled sunlight that fell through the leaves in autumn was reflected on his body, like a painting.

I didn't make any sound, walked to the old old wooden bench next to me, and read my book quietly.

I don't know how long it took, but just as I was contemplating it, the book suddenly slipped out of my hand, and fell into Riddle's hand under my surprised gaze.

This silent environment made me almost forget his existence.

"Tom?"

He frowned and twitched annoyedly, as if trying to chase away an annoying fly: "Don't call me Tom."

"Well, I'm sorry, Riddle. You don't like the name Tom?"

"There are too many people named Tom." He seemed to think of something all of a sudden, and paused while fiddling with the book, "Do you remember me?"

"Why don't you remember? We met at the beach last time." I looked at him funny.

He jumped down from the tree and met my unflinching curiosity: "Aren't you afraid?"

"Why are you afraid?"

He was stunned for just a second, and then a mocking expression appeared on his face: "Do you know what's wrong with you?"

"my question?"

The mockery in Riddle's eyes became more obvious, and I looked at him a little helplessly, his finger pointing at his head.I figured out what he meant, but I was not angry: "I lost my ring, and I may forget something-I want to know, did I forget something?"

"You're forgetting something. What does it have to do with the ring?"

"I'm having trouble with my memory...without it, I'd forget everyone or anything that made me feel bad."

An unknown emotion flashed in Riddle's eyes.

"Wouldn't it be better to lose it?" It was easy to hear that although he asked this sentence, he didn't think so.

"It's very important, having those memories can save me a lot of mistakes and troubles. Without it, I can only write down—" I stopped suddenly, because I remembered that his name was still in the book.

Riddle was silent for a while.

"It's so pitiful." He didn't have the slightest sympathy in his tone. He turned my book around in his hand, turned and left.

"Wait a minute, my book—"

"Come and get it yourself."

After a day, I didn't go to him, and my book came back by itself.

In the morning, I sat down at the table and found that next to my book, the book was lying there.I don't know how Riddle got it back, the windows were closed tightly, could it be possible that books could pass through the windows or the walls?I can't help but laugh at my peculiar idea.

However, when I habitually opened the book, I found that someone had moved it, and someone tore off the bottom of the page with the name.

I got up early in the morning, finished eating, and planned to go out for a walk, but I ran into Riddle just as I was going out.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Go outside for a walk."

"go back."

His unquestionable tone made me wonder: "What's wrong?"

Riddle looked at me coldly, with a little impatience in his attitude: "Just do it."

I turned around without knowing why, and looked back again. He was still standing at the gate staring at my back, so I had no choice but to continue walking upstairs.After I walked up the stone stairs, he walked out the door, not knowing where he went.

I went back to my room and really didn't go out all day.Anyway, it's not nothing to do.

After dinner, I walked in the yard, blowing a refreshing cool breeze.

When I walked around to the back of the square old-fashioned building, I suddenly felt a faint uneasiness in the blowing wind.

I quickly found the source of this uneasiness—Billy's Rabbit Root was hanging from the beam, his neck was broken and stretched long, and the blood stained on the white fur had already dried and clotted, obviously Been dead for a long time.

I found Billy in a panic: "Billy, have you seen Root?"

"I can't find it, where is it?"

"I saw—on, on the back beam—"

"Okay, thank you, Ashley!" He ran over there excitedly.

"and many more--"

I followed anxiously.He hadn't had time to hear me finish.

When I arrived, Billy was standing under the beam, staring at Root's body.His voice trembled with sadness and anger: "I see...he did it, he must have done it..."

"Who?"

"Tom Riddle!" Billy's eyes turned red.

"Why do you say that?"

"Again you forgot—you forgot! He—he's a heinous freak! No one else could have done such a thing but him!"

It was the first time I saw Billy so excited. My hands and feet were cold, my body was trembling uncontrollably, my eye sockets were a little wet, I didn't dare to speak, and I didn't know how to comfort him.

"Just because I had a fight with him yesterday—I knew he wasn't going to let it go! Look! The bastard!—Damn it." To insult him, "He is warning me! Warning me not to provoke him again—"

"What happened?" I asked.

"I saw your ring. It's with him."

"What?" I opened my mouth in disbelief, "I... I'm going to find him to get back—"

"Don't go to him!" He rubbed my shoulder bitterly and walked into the house, and I followed him, "It's impossible for him to return it to you, and maybe he will make you suffer. I'm going to find Ke Mrs. Hall."

I stopped in the foyer and watched him stride in and round the corner on the ground floor.

I've been on tenterhooks all day.

Before going to bed at night, I went upstairs and heard the voice of Mrs. Cole's office on the first floor.

I walked over quietly and put my face against the door.

"It can't hang itself from the beams, can it?"

"I said, I didn't do it." Riddle's voice was calm and stiff.

"But Billy said you had a fight yesterday, isn't that true?"

"Yes, but I didn't do anything."

"You have to know... this kind of evil has happened many times. When you went on an outing in the summer, Amy and Dennis also entered a cave with you—"

"I swear, we're just going on an adventure—"

"Then what else? Ashley's..."

I heard the "squeak" sound of the wooden bench in the hall, I was startled, and hurried away from the door.

The hall was empty.But even so, I didn't dare to stay any longer because I felt guilty because of eavesdropping. I quickly ran upstairs and returned to my room, and put the quilt over my head.

……

"We're going to teach him a lesson. I can't stand him, everybody hates him, everybody wants him to suffer," Billy told me.

"Who?"

"Tom Riddle!"

"What did he do?"

"He killed Root yesterday—you can't do it all the time."

"Killed Root?" I looked at him in horror. "Really? Did you see it?"

"That's right! It's just hanging from the beams of the house."

"But—what if, I mean, he didn't do it?" I didn't believe he would do such a thing.

Honestly, I don't believe anyone could do something like this, it's unbelievable - how could anyone?No one can do it.I think.

"What do you know? You'll never remember him. You've forgotten all about him bullying you—if you remember, you won't feel sympathy. When he teases others, you should also think that there will be such a day sooner or later."

"He didn't bully me." I retorted.

"Come on, Ashley." He widened his eyes, "What's the matter with you? It's not like you don't know what's wrong with yourself."

"This is not good." I was a little helpless.

"You're weird, Ashley. You'll applaud us when you remember what that freak did. We don't want to be at his mercy all the time." Billy ignored me, turned to talk to the boys The boys discussed the plan in a low voice.

I was afraid that he would get angry if I persuaded him more, or he would ignore me in the future, so I could only let him do it.I dare not stop them.

However, after some mental struggle, I finally stopped Riddle as he was walking out.

"Is something wrong?"

"No……"

"Then get out of the way."

"No." I said firmly.He was a little shocked by the way I spoke to him, and his tone became a bit more serious: "What did you say?"

"You don't go out—they—"

He looked at my anxious look thoughtfully, and finally his eyes passed me, staring at a fixed point in the distance without focus, showing a faint smile.He pushed my arm out of the way and walked straight out into the yard.I hurriedly followed, still wanting to dissuade him: "I didn't lie to you, you will really be in danger."

He ignored me and stopped suddenly while walking.I didn't pay attention, and ran to the position in front of him, stepped on something, and there was a crisp sound under my foot.

Immediately, I was empty, and after just two or three seconds of weightlessness, I fell into a hole.The hole is narrow, but not too deep.In the darkness, my hand touched a soft object.

Before I could react, something sharp pierced into my flesh. The sudden pain made my whole arm numb. I wanted to stand up, but the hole was quickly covered with a layer of hemp A net made of rope, and my ankle immediately felt the same excruciating pain as my arm.

Fear surrounded me overwhelmingly, I couldn't scream, and I bit my lips tightly until my mouth was filled with the smell of sweet blood, and tears dripped uncontrollably from my eye sockets on my clothes.

"Riddle—" I shouted his name with almost all my strength, but my vocal cords lost part of their function, and my voice was hoarse and pitifully weak.Still, I knew he was there, and he must have heard it.

I'm so scared, I hope he can save me.

But he didn't.

The sharp teeth left holes in my body, and I was sure that several snakes were attacking me.

In my desperation I suddenly had a strange feeling that I should be able to break free if I wanted to—

At the last moment I could think of this idea, the teeth of several snakes that were deeply embedded in my flesh loosened at the same time, as if they were about to stop attacking.

But these are not important.Soon, I felt myself shrinking slowly, until the cold teeth were separated from my body, and I got out of the bowl-sized net, flapping the surrounding air with light wings.

I escaped from that place and flew desperately to the distant branches.

However, before my feet had time to grab the branch, I fell weakly from midair. I struggled to flap my wings, but it was useless. Finally, I fell hard on the ground and lost consciousness.